Category Archives: Miscellany

Putting the Dead to Work

Posted on April 18, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Very busy time the last two weeks, and I’m not out of it yet. I’ve been storing up some thoughts for the weblog, and hope to get them up soon. One thought in passing this morning. Anybody whose first impulse … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany | 10 Comments

Squirrel in the Hole!

Posted on March 14, 2007 by Timothy Burke

So. I am seeing considerable debate out there about whether or not building catapult traps for squirrels is ethically appropriate. I’m all for them. I used to keep a bird feeder at a previous house and worked hard to try … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany | 6 Comments

Bathtub Debates

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I participated in a very non-serious, amusing debate between the divisions last week at Swarthmore. A couple of people off-campus who have somehow heard about this quirkily local event have asked me for a transcript or recording. You can watch … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Miscellany | 4 Comments

Compromise

Posted on February 20, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I joke that when they’re presented with two or more diametrically opposed ways of interpreting knowledge or evidence, Swarthmore students habitually say, “Both are right, to some degree”. But who am I to talk? That’s my schtick too. So in … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany | 3 Comments

Snakes. I Love Snakes.

Posted on January 12, 2007 by Timothy Burke

So Belle Waring has a story about copperheads and beheadings and camp counselors getting bit. 1. I was absolutely 100% certain until somewhere around my junior year in high school that I was going to be a herpetologist. I kept … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany | 4 Comments

Only At Swarthmore

Posted on November 6, 2006 by Timothy Burke

A new round of chalkings, in subtle and clever reply to the last two rounds. Seen already this morning: “Free the quarks!” “The marginalia I wrote were not for you, they were Fermat.” “K/S forever!” I guess I could add, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Miscellany | 9 Comments

The Sensation of Standing Still While Moving

Posted on August 28, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Been cleaning out my closet and files this week while getting ready for the semester. Looking at administrative materials, correspondence and so on that I kept from 1992-1995, when I had my first academic jobs at Rutgers, Emory and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Miscellany | 6 Comments

Getting the Cool Job

Posted on August 23, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Right around September, a lot of last year’s graduates from liberal arts colleges are discovering that they appear to be qualified for approximately none of the jobs that they might actually want to have. There are exceptions: students who have … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Miscellany | 15 Comments

Four Short Notes From My Media Morning

Posted on August 22, 2006 by Timothy Burke

1. In daily reading of the Internet, you can forget just how many breathtakingly wonderful various small acts of creative generosity it offers. Most of them are also fragile and ephemeral: you have to be there. I was reading one … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany, Popular Culture | 5 Comments

Calling the LazyWeb

Posted on August 15, 2006 by Timothy Burke

I’m looking for a good book or two (or even an article) on a somewhat complicated topic. What I’m curious about is the intellectual history of specifically British contemplations of constitutionalism or common law in the 19th and 20th Century. … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany | 11 Comments